Emeryville passes minimum wage law [View all]

[KamaAina]

a small city between Oakland and Berkeley at the east end of the Bay Bridge.

http://www.mercurynews.com/my-town/ci_28062978/emeryville-passes-minimum-wage-law

The City Council raised the minimum wage to $14.44 an hour for large businesses and $12.25 an hour for smaller ones starting July 1 with a unanimous vote Tuesday night.

The $12.25-an-hour rate for small businesses with fewer than 55 employees matches Oakland and San Francisco, whose voter-passed laws cover all workers.

"The gap between the richest and the poorest is growing and it's out of control," Emeryville Mayor Ruth Atkin said during the meeting. "People who work 40 hours a week should not have to be eligible for any public assistance."

Emeryville's new wage of $12.25 an hour for small businesses will rise each year in July to $13 an hour in 2016, $14 in 2017, $15 in 2018 and $16 in 2019. After that it will rise based on the local consumer price index. For business with more than 55 employees in Emeryville, the minimum wage will start at $14.44 July 1 and rise every year based on the consumer price index. By 2019 it will be set at $16 an hour with more yearly indexed increases.